Retinitis Pigmentosa

Milo, the main character in my novel, What Milo Saw, has Retinitis Pigmentosa. This means that he can only see through a pinhole and that, with time, he will go blind. Here is some more information about RP from the RP Fighting Blindness website:

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is the name given to a group of inherited conditions of the retina that all lead to a gradual progressive reduction in vision. Difficulties with night vision and peripheral (‘side’) vision are the first things that are noticed. Later, reading vision (detailed vision), colour vision, and central (‘straight-ahead’) vision are affected.

The age at which symptoms start is variable and the rate of deterioration often varies – for example with the different genetic types – but is generally very slow with changes occurring over years rather than months.

In approximately half of all cases there are other family members with RP.

There are three main inheritance patterns: autosomal recessive, autosomal dominant and X-linked inheritance, depending on the genetic cause, with RP affecting approximately 1 in 3,000 to 4,000 people.

Thank you to the charity, RP Fighting Blindness for this information. To find out more please visit their website.